Funny Car bodies typically reflect the models of newly available cars in the time period that the Funny Car was built. For example, in the 1970s, then-current models such as the Chevrolet Vega or Plymouth Barracuda were often represented as Funny Cars, and the bodies represented the Big Three of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Currently, four manufacturers are represented in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car: Chevrolet with the Camaro, Dodge with the Charger, Ford with the Mustang, and Toyota with the Supra. Worldwide, however, many different body styles are used. These "fake" body shells are not just cosmetic: they serve an important aerodynamic purpose.
Modern Funny Cars can rival or surpass Top Fuel dragsters. In 2016, fielding a Funny Car team could cost between US$2.6 and US$3 million. A single carbon fiber body can cost US$70,000.
The NHRA has strict guidelines for Funny Cars. Most of the rules relate to the engine. In short, the engines can only be V8s displacing no more than 500 cu in (8.2 L). The most popular design is a Donovan, loosely based on the second-generation Chrysler 426 Hemi.
Crankshafts are CNC machine carved from steel billet, then nitrided in an oven to increase surface hardness. Intake valves are titanium and of 2.40 in (61 mm) diameter, while exhaust valves are 1.90 in (48 mm) diameter, made from Inconel. Every Funny Car has ballistic blankets covering the supercharger because this part of the engine is prone to explosion.
Funny Car fuel systems are key to their immense power. During a single run (starting, burnout, backing up, staging, 1/4 mile), cars can burn as much as 15 US gallons (12 imp gal; 57 L) of fuel. The fuel mixture is usually 85–90% nitromethane and 10–15% methanol. The ratio of fuel to air can be as high as 1:1. Compression ratios vary from 6:1 to 7:1. The engines in Funny Cars commonly exhibit varying piston heights and ratios that are determined by the piston's proximity to the air intake. Funny Cars have a fixed gear ratio of 3.20:1 and have a reversing gear; power is transmitted from engine to final drive through a multiple staged clutch which provides progressive incremental lockup as the run proceeds. The rate/degree of lockup is mechanically/pneumatically controlled and preset before each run according to various conditions, in particular, the track surface. Wheelbases are between 100 and 125 in (2,500 and 3,200 mm). The car must maintain a 3 in (76 mm) ground clearance.
Horsepower claims vary widely—from 10,000 to 11,000 HP (7.5–8 MW). Supercharged, nitromethane-fueled motors of this type have a very high torque, estimated at 7,000 ft⋅lbf (9,500 N⋅m). They routinely achieve a 6-G acceleration from a standing start.
Many safety rules are in place to protect the driver and fans. The more visible safety devices are the twin parachutes to help stabilize and decelerate the car after crossing the finish line. Less visible precautions include roll cages and fire extinguishers.
During safety evaluations in the wake of the fatal crash of Scott Kalitta on June 21, 2008, in Englishtown, N.J., the NHRA reduced the distance of Top Fuel and Funny Car races to 1,000 feet (304 meters) effective July 2, 2008, as later did the National Drag Racing Championship in Australia. Pro Stock and sportsman classes still race to 1⁄4 mile (1,320 feet, 402 meters).
In drag racing in the mid-1960s, Top Fuel horsepower began to be combined with bodied cars with altered wheelbases to produce the first Funny Cars. The term "funny car" is attributed to Mercury's chief of racing, Fran Hernandez, as in "We need to beat those 'funny' cars." The first Funny Cars were built in the early to mid-1960s. Funny Car as a class traces its roots to Super Stock, through the Optional Super Stock class, to A/Factory Experimental (A/FX), which NHRA introduced in 1962, and ultimately XS (experimental stock).
At the start, the rear tires ("slicks") were made with a bias-ply construction, which meant that grip upon launching was poor. Racers who performed altered wheelbase modifications found it shifted the center of gravity rearward, which placed more weight on the rear wheels, enhancing traction from these bias-ply slicks. Because of these many obvious modifications they did not look stock, hence the name "funny". The wheelbases were changed to assist traction for the narrow 7-inch-wide slicks required by NHRA rules, while keeping the mandatory factory distance between axle centers.
The first of the "funny-looking cars" were a trio of 1964 Dodge 330 Max Wedges named the "Dodge Chargers." They debuted in March 1964 at San Diego Raceway. Prepared at the behest of Don Beebe by Dragmaster's Jim Nelson and Dode Martin, they were driven by Jimmy Nix, Jim Johnson, Jim Nelson, and Dode Martin. These were the first factory cars fitted with parachutes and the first to see the drivers wear firesuits.
The first major altered-wheelbase car was Dick Landy's class-legal SS/A 1964 Dodge 330, which had front and rear axles moved radically forward and a 426 hemi. Converted by Landy to A/FX in September 1964, it is considered to be the first "Funny Car" because it looked funny at the time.
Three months after the Chargers' debut, the factory-backed Sachs and Sons 1964 Mercury Comet, powered by a supercharged 427 wedge engine, made its debut at the 1964 Nationals in Indianapolis. Driven by Jack Chrisman and entered in B/FD, the Comet created a sensation, recording a pass of 10.25 seconds at 156.31 mph (251.56 km/h).
The trend to flip-top fiberglass bodies ("floppers") began with Jim Lytle's Allison V-1710-powered chopped '34 Tudor, Big Al II. Don Nicholson's flip-top, tube-chassis Comet, arriving in 1966, changed the class. At the 1966 World Final, Eddie Schartman would become NHRA's first official Funny Car title winner, defeating Jack Chrisman with a pass of 8.28 at 174.41 mph. In 1967, Doug Thorley would record the first (unofficial) 200 mph (320 km/h) Funny Car pass in his Corvair at Lions.
Late in 1969, Pat Foster and John Buttera devised a Top Fuel dragster-style chassis to replace the "dune buggy" design common at the time. This design remains the standard in TF/FC. NHRA created the new Funny Car (TF/FC) class at the NHRA Winternationals in 1969; Funny Car Eliminator (FCE) was won by Clare Sanders, teammate of "Jungle Jim" Liberman.
Gene Snow recorded the first official 200 mph (320 km/h) pass in the Keith Black-engined, Logghe-chassised 1969 Dodge Charger, Rambunctious. Another record was set in 1970 by Leroy Goldstein ("The Israeli Rocket"), then testing Firestone tires, with a 6.99 pass at Capitol Raceway, Funny Car's first under seven seconds. By November 1970, Jake Johnson in the hemi-powered Blue Max turned in a 6.72 at 218 mph (351 km/h) at OCIR.
In 1973, Shirley Muldowney teamed up with Connie Kalitta as the Bounty Hunter and Bounty Huntress in a pair of Ford Mustangs. Between 1973 and 1975, Ed "The Ace" McCulloch scored eighteen wins at NHRA national events in the Revellution Dodge Dart. Shirl Greer defeated Don Prudhomme in the final in 1974 to take the first NHRA Funny Car World Championship. In 1975, Raymond Beadle and Harry Schmidt resurrected the Blue Max; built by Tony Casarez Race Cars, the Mustang II won at Indianapolis. Beadle later bought out Schmidt and went on to seven Funny Car national titles (four with NHRA, three with IHRA).
Mark Oswald, driving for Candies and Hughes, won both the NHRA and IHRA world championships in 1984. John Force began a period of significant dominance between 1987 and 1996, winning sixty-seven NHRA national events and six World Championships. In 1992, Cruz Pedregon, driving the Larry Minor McDonald's-sponsored Oldsmobile, won the championship and became one of the first Funny Car drivers to clock a five-second e.t.
Kenny Bernstein and tuner Dale Armstrong introduced the "Batmobile" in 1989, which profoundly changed Funny Car aerodynamics. Major corporate sponsorship money came to Funny Car starting in 1997, leading to multi-car teams with several tuners. Force's domination continued with ten NHRA FC World Championship wins from 1993 to 2002.
In recent years, a resurgence of interest in vintage drag cars has created many "nostalgia" Funny Cars, which are newly made vintage-style bodies mounted on modern or NHRA-legal frames. In 2007, NHRA limited technical innovation and introduced the 1,000 ft (300 m) track length. Funny Car is currently dominated by multi-car teams, with only a few drivers like Cruz Pedregon, Jim Dunn, and Tim Wilkerson maintaining traditional one-car operations.
John Force: Holds the record for most driver wins with 16 championships, more than 1,000 round wins, and 157 career wins.
John Force Racing: The winningest owner with 21 championships; team drivers Tony Pedregon (2003), Robert Hight (2009, 2017, 2019), and Austin Prock (2024) have won five titles while on his team.
Austin Coil: Force's former crew chief, who has logged the highest number of wins in that position.
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